Roasted Winter Vegetable Pasta

One of those last minute, what am i going to put on the table? meals. This veggie pasta dish was absolutely delightful and i can't wait to make it again!! The combination of garlic, pine nuts and Parmesan with sweet potato and brussel sprouts served over pasta created a combination of rich and light flavors. It was something I could enjoy eating and at the same time not feel guilty about it.

A couple of weeks ago Alex was feeling poorly and we decided to shut ourselves in and spend the day watching Lord Of The Rings 1, 2 and 3, Followed by a slew of chick flicks. Somewhere in between watching Frodo save middle earth and Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan fall in love over email, i had to figure something out for dinner.

After raiding my pantry, this meal is what i came up with. It took all of 40 minutes and was a great ending to a wonderful day!

Roasted Winter Vegetable Pasta

Ingredients:
1 Large Sweet Potato, peeled and chopped into small pieces.
1/2 Lb Cleaned and halved Brussel Sprouts
1 Tbs Olive Oil
3 Tbs Butter
3 Cloves of Garlic, minced, divided.
1 Lb Spaghetti
1/2 C. Pine nuts, toasted
Salt to taste

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Wash, peel and chop vegetables.
Spread out the veggies onto a rimmed cookie sheet or shallow baking dish. Drizzle olive oil, add 2 cloves of minced garlic, and 2 Tbs. of butter. Roast in oven for 25 minutes; stirring occasionally.
Meanwhile, toast pine nuts in pan over medium heat (no butter needed) for about 5 min. Watch carefully as they burn easy.
Boil water and cook pasta according to package. Drain pasta then place back in pot. Mix in the remaining 1 Tbs of butter and 1 clove of minced garlic.
Once Vegetables are nicely roasted remove from oven, mix in the pine nuts, season with salt and serve over pasta with a sprinkling of Parmesan, or not, whichever you prefer and Enjoy!!
  

Macaroni and Cheese

I first learned about this recipe shortly after Alex and i we're married. It was shared with me by Julie, a dear friend after a discussion on the mac n cheese "debate". Boxed versus home made. I personally love home made mac n cheese but the hubby has never liked it, says it's gritty. So when Julie recommended this recipe, i was willing to give it a try. Though in all honesty i was a little nervous when i saw Velveeta in the ingredients list.

Pasta Davinci (cheescake factory replica)

In the wide world of restaurants and specifically chain restaurants i feel that there's always that one that you love going to, is full of an array of foods and almost all of the dishes on the menu are delicious so it doesn't really matter what you get; but you always seem to get the same dish over and over. Well for me that place is The Cheesecake Factory. It's been a while since I've eaten there but when i do i almost always get the Pasta Da Vinci. A pasta dish filled with tender chicken breast, mushrooms, onions, Al Dente pasta and a rich Madeira wine sauce, topped off with a smattering of Parmesan. It has definitely become a comfort food for me and i wanted to try making it at home. So i did! the result was a very tasty dish that came pretty close to the original but i feel like it could have been a bit more flavorful. I'll make a few changes to the recipe to remedy this. 

Pasta Da Vinci
Adapted from Meemo's Kitchen

Ingredients:
Penne Pasta
1/4 C. Red onion, chopped
1/2 C. Mushrooms (porcini or shitake. i used crimini quartered.)
1 Tsp Garlic, chopped
1/2 Lb Chicken breast, cut into bite sized pieces
3 Tbs butter
1 Tsp Salt
1 C. Madeira wine (i found it at Trader Joe's)
1/2 C. chicken broth
2 Tbs Heavy cream
1 Tbs Fresh parsley, chopped
Parmesan cheese

Directions:
boil water and prepare pasta according to package instructions for "Al Dente" pasta.
Saute onions and mushrooms and garlic in medium to large frying pan with 1 tbs butter over medium-high heat until tender. Remove the Mixture and set aside.
In the same pan, cook the chicken stirring frequently. Set aside for later use.
Melt the remaining 2 Tbs of butter over low-medium heat. Add in the wine, cream and chicken broth in a slow stream, whisking constantly; cook sauce until thickened, stirring occasionally. Add Parsley and stir for 2 minutes. Add Chicken, mushroom mixture simmer for 2 minutes more*. Serve with Parmesan cheese.

*For more flavor i suggest adding the pasta (boiled for 1-2 min. less than instructions require) with the chicken and mushrooms and boiling for 2 min.more.